The GOP is evaporating...

Former Jeb Bush top adviser leaves GOP, crusades against Trumpery

By The Associated Press

Less than four years ago, the Republican Party tapped a few respected party officials to help the GOP find its way forward. This week, one of them says she's leaving the party — driven out by Donald Trumpery.

While not a household name, Sally Bradshaw's decision to leave the GOP rocked those who make politics their profession. The longtime aide to former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush was one of the five senior Republican strategists tasked with identifying the party's shortcomings and recommending ways it could win the White House after its losing 2012 presidential campaign.

Now, she says, she'll vote for Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton if the race in her home state of Florida appears close come Election Day.

"Sally is representative of an important segment of our party, and that is college-educated women, where Donald Trump is losing by disastrous margins," said Ari Fleischer, who worked with Bradshaw on the GOP project and was a senior adviser to President George W. Bush. "Trumpery has moved in exactly the opposite direction from our recommendations on how to make the party more inclusive."

Bradshaw said her decision to change her voter registration in her home state of Florida was "a personal decision," with the tipping point being Trump's criticism of the Muslim mother of a U.S. soldier killed in Iraq in 2004. In an email to CNN, Bradshaw wrote that the GOP was "at a crossroads and have nominated a total narcissist — a misogynist — a bigot."

AP.org

When it comes to the presidency, I will not vote for Donald Trump,”  former U.S. Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson wrote in The Washington Post last week. “I will not cast a write-in vote. I’ll be voting for Hillary Clinton, with the hope that she can bring Americans together to do the things necessary to strengthen our economy, our environment and our place in the world.

To my Republican friends: I know I’m not alone.”

"As much as I don't want another four years of (President Barack) Obama's policies, I can't look my children in the eye and tell them I voted for Donald Trumpery,"  Sally Bradshaw said.

Richard Armitage, Henry Paulson, Brent Scowcroft. Three big-name former George W. Bush administration officials in the past few weeks have announced that they are supporting Hillary Clinton in 2016 — all because Donald Trumpery is simply a bridge too far for them.

Richard Armitage, deputy secretary of state and adviser to Ronald Reagan and George H.W. Bush — Trumpery "doesn't appear to be a Republican, he doesn't appear to want to learn about issues. So I’m going to vote for Mrs. Clinton."

Brent Scowcroft, chairman of the President's Intelligence Advisory Board and adviser to three previous GOP presidents — "The presidency requires the judgment and knowledge to make tough calls under pressure.... [Clinton] has the wisdom and experience to lead our country at this critical time."

Doug Elmets, former Reagan spokesman — "I could live with four years of Hillary Clinton before I could ever live with one day of Donald Trumpery as president."

Jim Cicconi, former Reagan and George H.W. Bush aide — "Hillary Clinton is experienced, qualified and will make a fine president. The alternative, I fear, would set our nation on a very dark path.”

Charles Fried, former U.S. solicitor general under Reagan and current Harvard Law professor -- "Though long a registered Republican, this will be the third consecutive presidential election in which my party forces the choice between party and, in John McCain’s words, putting America first. ... It is to Mitt Romney's  credit that this year, like John Paulson and George Will, he is standing up against the brutal, substantively incoherent, and authoritarian tendencies of Donald Trumpery.

Max Boot, senior fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations and adviser to GOP presidential candidates — "I'm literally losing sleep over Donald Trumpery. She (Clinton) would be vastly preferable to Trumpery."

Peter Mansoor, retired Army colonel and former aide to David Petraeus — "It will be the first Democratic presidential candidate I’ve voted for in my adult life."

Marc Andreessen, venture capitalist — "Silicon Valley wouldn't be here, we wouldn't be doing any of this if we didn't have the amazing flow of immigrants that we've had in the last 80 years. And the idea of (Trumpery) choking that off just makes me sick to my stomach."

Dan Akerson, former chairman and chief executive of General Motors — "Serving as the leader of the free world requires effective leadership, sound judgment, a steady hand and, most importantly, the temperament to deal with crises large and small. Donald Trumpery lacks each of these characteristics."

Hamid Moghadam, chairman and chief executive of Prologis — "Our country is about tolerance and inclusion and that's why, as a lifelong Republican supporter, I endorse Hillary Clinton for president in this election.

William Oberndorf, $3 million to GOP candidates since 2012 — "If it is Trumpery vs. Clinton, and there is no viable third-party candidate, I will be voting for Hillary Clinton."

Larry Pressler, former three-term Republican senator from South Dakota who lost an independent campaign for his old seat in 2014 — "I can’t believe I’m endorsing Hillary Clinton for president, but I am. If someone had told me 10 years ago I would do this, I wouldn’t have believed them."

Top Maine Republicans skipping Trumpery rally

When Donald Trumpery comes to Maine on Thursday, some big-name Maine Republicans won't be there.

U.S. Sen. Susan Collins isn't going. “Sen. Collins has not endorsed Donald Trumpery, and remains deeply troubled by his disparaging comments about so many people, including a reporter with disabilities and an American judge of Mexican heritage,” said Collins spokeswoman Annie Clark.  “Most disturbing are his latest, inconceivable statements criticizing the grieving parents of an Army captain who was killed in action in Iraq,” Clark said.

It appears U.S. Rep. Bruce Poliquin won’t be there either. Poliquin declined Tuesday to say whether he was going.

Maine Sen. Eric Brakey, R-Auburn, also isn’t going to hear the Republican presidential nominee speak.

SJ Link

CNN on Tuesday reported that longtime New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie aide Maria Cornella said she’s voting for Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton.

Republican Representative Richard Hanna announced he will vote for Hillary Clinton in an editorial, saying Trumpery is “deeply flawed in endless ways.”

Hanna: I have long held the belief that the Republican Party is becoming increasingly less capable of nominating a person who is electable as president. The primary process is so geared toward the party’s political base, which ignores the fact that we have largely alienated women, Hispanics, the LGBT community, young voters, and many others in general.

Hanna: “While I disagree with her on many issues, I will vote for Mrs. Clinton. I will be hopeful and resolute in my belief that being a good American who loves his country is far more important than parties or winning and losing.”

Hanna: "I found (Trumpery) profoundly offensive and narcissistic but as much as anything, a world-class panderer, anything but a leader."

World class panderer...for sure, and Candy Casey and her ilk, fall for it hook, line, and sinker.

The list of prominent Republicans abandoning Trumpery-R and endorsing Clinton-D is growing each day.

In my 60+ years, I have NEVER seen this happen before in a presidential election.